Creocote Vs Wood Preserver Vs Decking Oil?

Jeepers_Creepers

I've heard good things about Everbuild timber treatment.

They also do a 'Triple-action' version, and I struggle to see what the difference is, although they do have slightly different codes so 'must' be different! It costs about the same, so worth comparing.

Brushing it on is fine, but spraying is just so much easier since it's a watery liquid - and, as I said, it gets in everywhere that a brush won't. But your call.

I would, tho', brush the top protective treatment - will apply more evenly.

Retrogamer

Just to bring this to a close and update.

I ended up initially buying Barrettine clear, Universal Preserver and Barrettine clear, Wood Protective Treatment but later bought clear Wood Preserver also.


What Barrettine said / advised.
I emailed Barrettine to ask how best to use and apply both. They had a couple of things to say.
They first say that i would have been better buying Barrettine clear Wood Preserver as it has the traits of both the Universal Preserver and the Protective Treatment and it's essentially an all in 1.

They mentioned using seperate ones is fine but generally they personally only done them seperate for people who want to mix them with other products from other companies. I.e the universal preserver can be painted over.

They said to apply 2 coats of the Universal Preserver then let it weather for approx 3 weeks, then apply 2 to 3 coats of the protective treatment.


What i did.
I coat of the Universal Preserver used about 4.7 liters and at £30ish, for 5 litres that was a bit painful.
I decided to buy another tin, but i went with the Wood Preserver instead.

I gave it 3 coats, over the space of about a week and i'll give it one more coat just before winter.

First coat - Universal Preservative - Clear (approx 4.7 litres)
Second coat - Wood Preservative - Clear (Approx 4 litres)
Third coat - Wood Protective Treatment - Clear (Approx 3.5 litres)

Both preservatives were a little thicker than some other oil treatments, and the protective treatment was very watery.
Smell was very mild off of them all compared to stuff like Creoseal


Vs other solvent based products i've used.
I applied Creoseal and some left over Creocote to my fence as well as most had washed / fade out after 10 months.

I decided to test my fence with these products vs my shed when i was watering my plants. Garden hose on my shed, shows the water beading and rolling off instaly. But on my fence with the Creocote / Creoseal it seemed to just absorb the water. Maybe it was just a different grain of wood, or maybe i didn't reapply enough coats or maybe it's just not as good as i first thought.


Thoughts.
Really happy with the outcome. Even though it is a little expensive, it keeps the wood healthy, looking fantastic and if the wood was brand new and planed / sanded smooth i'd have used a lot less.
I like it so much i'll do my other fences next i think.


This is my shed now.

Jeepers_Creepers

Fab. And, yes, the shed looks great.

All it should need now is the Wood Protective Treatment so that it keeps repelling water - the timber should be actually 'preserved' enough from the Uni Preserv. How often this will be needed - annual or longer - can be determined in time.

The areas to focus on are the bottom boards especially the very bottom edge and underneath - that's where most of the rain ends up. I'd keep that grass well trimmed too, and allow air to flow under the shed.

Any joists actually in contact with the ground? If so, I'd give them a darned good spraying with the preservative in particular.

Retrogamer

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Fab. And, yes, the shed looks great.

All it should need now is the Wood Protective Treatment so that it keeps repelling water - the timber should be actually 'preserved' enough from the Uni Preserv. How often this will be needed - annual or longer - can be determined in time.

The areas to focus on are the bottom boards especially the very bottom edge and underneath - that's where most of the rain ends up. I'd keep that grass well trimmed too, and allow air to flow under the shed.

Any joists actually in contact with the ground? If so, I'd give them a darned good spraying with the preservative in particular.

I asked Barrettine how often should preservative and protective treatment be applied.
They said that in theory if i keep applying protective treatment then it should keep the preservative sealed in the wood but a better solution would be to use the Wood Preservative going forward as the wood, rather than universal ones has the treatment combined so 1-2 coats a year will do the lot.

I gave the joists on the bottom as well as the lower 2 slats all around the shed an extra coating of everything as sometimes the grass touches it.
All the joists are sitting on top of slabs on the ground and i've made sure to pull out the weeds and stuff. Going to get some small slabs to create a type of barrier between the shed and grass so it stops growing so close.

Jeepers_Creepers

1 or 2 coats per year?! Who the heck wants to do that amount of work!!

That surely cannot be necessary.

Someone on another thread had a similar issue - they want to preserve, and keep looking as new and natural as possible, their timber fence. He gave it a soaking in Everbuild preservative, followed by a couple of coats of an oil - can't remember which one.

It would be interesting to compare both outcomes, especially if he doesn't reapply more than once a year at most.

Section62

Retrogamer said:

Going to get some small slabs to create a type of barrier between the shed and grass so it stops growing so close.

I'd make fitting gutters the first next job - and standard 112mm ones rather than minifit-type things.

Water running off the roof and onto the walls will do a lot more damage than weeds/grass, and will cause staining or loss of colour.

If you add weed control slabs around the base then the falling water also has something hard to bounce off and splash back onto the wood where it is most vulnerable.


If you keep anything valuable in the shed you might also want to review the door security.  You've got a nice big padlock (which hints at something worth nicking inside) but unless the door furniture has been fitted with security screws it would take someone a few seconds with a screwdriver to undo the (at most 4) screws that need to be undone to make the padlock pointless.

Personally I'd use coach bolts rather than security screws, as the bolts are stronger and easier to remove (with the nut on the inside) when you need to do so for maintenance.  You only need one bolt per attachment point (the other holes can have screws), so one for each half of the bolt, and one for each half of each hinge - 8 in total.  You may need to use a small file to make the holes square-shape to engage with the square section under the bolt head.  Get bolts which are long enough to go through the thickest part of the door/frame, but can be cut down with a hacksaw to suit any thinner parts so the bolt doesn't protrude too far. And use generous size penny washers on the inside.

It won't stop a determined thief ripping some of the planks off the wall if they really want to get in, but that makes noise, whereas the screws in door furniture can be undone very quietly.

However, if there's nothing of value inside the shed then I'd consider downgrading the padlock to something less heavy duty.  Big secure padlock on a nicely finished shed just screams out for attention from the midnight shed fairies.

Section62

p.s. The Barrettine treatment recommended by greyteam1959 would also have been my recommendation, I've used gallons of the stuff and have always been happy with the results.

It is also the only product you needed to use - it contains insecticide and has fungicidal properties, as well as being water repellent.  The coloured variants also give a consistent finish which lasts well.

The EVERBUILD Wood Preserver on that ebay link is 'solvent free' - aka water based.  It doesn't do anything that the Barrettine treatment doesn't, and isn't a great choice if you are using it on wood which has been previously been treated with a solvent-based product, or if you intend to apply further oil/solvent based treatments or finishes.

Retrogamer

Jeepers_Creepers said:

1 or 2 coats per year?! Who the heck wants to do that amount of work!!

That surely cannot be necessary.

Someone on another thread had a similar issue - they want to preserve, and keep looking as new and natural as possible, their timber fence. He gave it a soaking in Everbuild preservative, followed by a couple of coats of an oil - can't remember which one.

It would be interesting to compare both outcomes, especially if he doesn't reapply more than once a year at most.

I'm just guessing here with the coats as i gave my fence 2 coats of creocote last september and by the start of the summer this year, it looked like it was almost back to raw wood. I live in the Scottish west coast so it's usually raining a lot and with the older wood not having so tight a grain i suspect it might wash out or fade a bit quicker.

One of my neighbours got a brand new fence last year and all the wooden slats and frame were all pressure treated, but this year it looks like it's just plain, raw wood now and all the treatment has either been washed out or evaporated from the sun this year.

Retrogamer

Section62 said:

Retrogamer said:

Going to get some small slabs to create a type of barrier between the shed and grass so it stops growing so close.

I'd make fitting gutters the first next job - and standard 112mm ones rather than minifit-type things.

Water running off the roof and onto the walls will do a lot more damage than weeds/grass, and will cause staining or loss of colour.

If you add weed control slabs around the base then the falling water also has something hard to bounce off and splash back onto the wood where it is most vulnerable.


If you keep anything valuable in the shed you might also want to review the door security.  You've got a nice big padlock (which hints at something worth nicking inside) but unless the door furniture has been fitted with security screws it would take someone a few seconds with a screwdriver to undo the (at most 4) screws that need to be undone to make the padlock pointless.

Personally I'd use coach bolts rather than security screws, as the bolts are stronger and easier to remove (with the nut on the inside) when you need to do so for maintenance.  You only need one bolt per attachment point (the other holes can have screws), so one for each half of the bolt, and one for each half of each hinge - 8 in total.  You may need to use a small file to make the holes square-shape to engage with the square section under the bolt head.  Get bolts which are long enough to go through the thickest part of the door/frame, but can be cut down with a hacksaw to suit any thinner parts so the bolt doesn't protrude too far. And use generous size penny washers on the inside.

It won't stop a determined thief ripping some of the planks off the wall if they really want to get in, but that makes noise, whereas the screws in door furniture can be undone very quietly.

However, if there's nothing of value inside the shed then I'd consider downgrading the padlock to something less heavy duty.  Big secure padlock on a nicely finished shed just screams out for attention from the midnight shed fairies.

I've never considered gutters as well. I'd need to have a look on where to get them and how to do that.
Good points without them and with weed control slabs without them

The shed security is the next thing. It has theft proof / tamper proof screws on the hasps and the snib / bolt lock but there's nothing much of value inside just now until i get it more secure.
It has a partial frame on the rear of the door. I'm going to add more wood to make it a full frame, then do what you suggested with the coach bolts + washers.
That's what i done at my old house with the shed with 3 hasps so they couldn't crow bar them off without tearing washers through 2x4's

This shed has been insulated fully inside between the beams so i'm going to add another layer of thin plywood on the inside to make it double lined as well so if someone did try and go in the sides, then it would make a lot of noise and i don't see it being an issue where it's sitting. 
I've a proximity light aimed at it just now from my upstairs window, and it faces the street so anyone near it would trigger the light for all to see.

That Barrettine stuff you mentioned is what i ended up getting after i bought their other stuff and it's what i'm going to use going forward as well and only that. 
Great finish, well priced, low odour and absorbs well into the wood.

Jeepers_Creepers

Retrogamer said:

Jeepers_Creepers said:

1 or 2 coats per year?! Who the heck wants to do that amount of work!!

That surely cannot be necessary.

Someone on another thread had a similar issue - they want to preserve, and keep looking as new and natural as possible, their timber fence. He gave it a soaking in Everbuild preservative, followed by a couple of coats of an oil - can't remember which one.

It would be interesting to compare both outcomes, especially if he doesn't reapply more than once a year at most.

I'm just guessing here with the coats as i gave my fence 2 coats of creocote last september and by the start of the summer this year, it looked like it was almost back to raw wood. I live in the Scottish west coast so it's usually raining a lot and with the older wood not having so tight a grain i suspect it might wash out or fade a bit quicker.

One of my neighbours got a brand new fence last year and all the wooden slats and frame were all pressure treated, but this year it looks like it's just plain, raw wood now and all the treatment has either been washed out or evaporated from the sun this year.

All sorts of things go on with all sorts of different treatments.

I bought some 'Creocote' a few years back for a fencing too, and was reassured by that almost familiar smell - until I read the small print and discovered it was not a 'preservative' (which is exactly what creosote was), but a 'timber treatment'. It essentially just adds colour and water repellance. It won't actually stop the timber from rotting.

On the other thread I mentioned, the OP wanted to keep his fence's natural raw wood look, but wanted to stop it deteriorating. I'm hoping his choice of solution works - preservative and then oil.

As S62 says, Everbuild is non-solvent (water-based emulsion) and will struggle to become absorbed if the timber has already had some treatments such as Creocote/sote, oil and paints. I did assume your shed was 'raw'.

I'm not sure how possible it will be for your shed to retain the current natural golden hue; whatever it is that causes timber to go grey/silver - is it oxidation, or sunlight? - would presumably need to be kept at bay. Mind you, an 'even' silveriness is actually quite beautiful.

I like the 'idea' of oils as it's very easy to apply - just slap/soak/spray it on rather than having to evenly brush a neat layer - and it also nourishes the timber helping to prevent it shrinking and cracking, whilst also adding that waterproofingnecessity.

It'll be very useful if you could report back on occasion, please - eg. if there's any changes, when it needs redoing, or "haven't touched it in 10 years - still looks as good as new..."